EDIT: I am still job searching and trying what I can, but my biggest/most hopeful financial opportunity was taken from me last night, and I was just made aware this morning that I have court bills due ASAP, and they’re threatening to file contempt for nonpayment if I don’t pay $955 within 10 days. We need a miracle.

Hello wonderful people! I don’t want to take up a lot of your time, so I’ll keep it as short and sweet as possible.

I am Kiersten, a 30-year-old mother of three boys. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for 11 years. I do schooling at home with my oldest two sons, who are now going into fifth and second grades, and am working on preschool learning with my toddler.

I am not one who asks for help. I always feel ashamed or undeserving because there is always someone worse off than I am and I start to feel guilty. But I’m trying to step past that fear for the sake of my kids and myself. Because I truly do need help.

In sensitive terms, I recently ended a 10-year marriage involving DV, in every sense of those words. The final divorce hearing was on July 28. There was a TPO in place prior to this, which required household bills to still be paid for the duration of that order, supposed to have ended in November 2026. I had never held a traditional job, having mutually agreed to be a stay-at-home mom since I had my firstborn.

My problem now is I am a newly single mother struggling to make ends meet. I am actively trying to find work or work from home, while schooling the kids, on top of every other daily task. As of July 28, three days before the end of the month, I was suddenly left with every household bill since the divorce decree ended the payment terms of the protection order. Many of them were a month or two behind in payments and some utilities were even shut off yesterday. (Thankfully, I was able to start new services with no deposit.)

So I’m setting aside my pride and fear and asking for some help to get us on our feet. My landlord said I have to have income and sign a new lease by September 1st if I want to stay here with the kids; otherwise, I could be faced with a housing issue as well. I don’t have a *fully reliable* vehicle (I now have a van but it is old, has high mileage and needs important work done on it I can’t afford), don’t have a job yet, don’t have childcare because the kids are schooled at home, plus I don’t have money to pay anyone anyways. So I’m trying hard to find something I can do, but with no experience, I’m not having much luck.

So what I am asking for is a little help to put towards rent and/or bills. I am still trying to do what I can and will hopefully have my own steady income soon, but the timeline I had was not ideal. Child support will be started soon, but that will take some time. I do have inconsistent side income selling personal belongings, setting up an Amazon Storefront, publishing a few notebooks/word search books on Amazon, writing letters for companies, and a couple other “side gigs” if you will. But it’s not near enough to be able to take over everything on my own. Local agencies are out of funding so they can’t help. Thankfully we do have Medicaid, WIC, and EBT, but no other assistance.

If you feel led to help, thank you. If you can share this with your friends and family who may be able to help, thank you. If all you can do is pray for us, thank you. Literally anything is greatly appreciated. It means so much to my kids and me to have every bit of support.

Blessings and love to all of you who’ve read this far. Thank you for giving your time to care.